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Arthur heard his shoe heals click, as he walked up and down the back, dingy corridor. He pulled his robe tighter taking in his home's scent and drew his wand a little higher, which was, at the moment, lit with, 'Lumos.' This wasn't Arthur's favorite place, it was so cold and dark. No windows or doors except the one at the end. The one with the gold circle engraved with the black, 'M,' for Ministry Of Magic. "Ssss." Arthur immediately averted his attention to the other end of the corridor. Then he saw it, a huge, at least 38-foot dark green snake, making nice headway towards him. He backed up instinctely and tried thinking of a spell. His problem was, until he knew it was close enough he couldn't cast a spell, without Lumos lit he wouldn't be able to see. He squinted his eyes to see how fast it was coming and how far away it was but it was no use. He couldn't even estimate how quick it was coming because of its speed, it was mutant. It was only a few feet away from him when he turned out the light to cast, Stupefy, but it wasn't in the time frame he would've liked it to be. The snake had already lunged forward. Biting his chest, side and leg and lunging once more before he cast Stupefy and it slithered away, very annoyed. Arthur stood for a moment. Somewhere between, life and death, conscious and unconscious, upset and angry, and failure. This was his night to guard, this was his night to show giving his all meant something to him. He just didn't know giving his all might include his life........
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An hour later Arthur was laying in the floor in a puddle of blood bigger than him. He was very pale and sweating profusely but, he had no idea. He was in an unconscious yet aware state of mind. Like when your sick and you hear something then, you drift of to sleep. Not giving a damn about what it even was, just worrying about the things you have to get done and or, the pain. Arthur's pain right now couldn't be explained. Despite the fact the snake went nowhere near his head, he had a splitting headache, a rapid heartbeat that also had been skipping, the feeling like he was going to throw up adding to the undeniable pain in his actual stomach and side, and the throbbing pain coming from his leg as blood oozed. You could look at it two ways, one: the poison was coming out due to the blood that looked like a stream coming from his body, or, two: the fact that it had been an hour he was laying in the blood just absorbing the poison back so it could have fun with his vital organs. Either way you looked at it didn't change the fact that whatever were to happen he was maybe an hour, at the most, away from death. Never in all his life had he experienced pain like this, mental and physical. The physical was none other than the burning poison and inevitable pain, but the mental, the mental was thinking of his family, of the snake coming back, of hid failings, of their debt, and of not being enough. He knew Kingsley could've easily taken on that snake, Dumbledore could've easily taken on that snake, but, Arthur, Arthur was the one laying here, and that only added to his self conscious state. In the attempt of prating to be found his last strenghht was taken to conjour a patrounus. His weasle hopped from his wand and into the night as he let his head fall back down, pleading and praying, he would be found.
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the Order immediately jumped to their feet when they saw Arthur's patrounus and apparated right away to the Ministry. They all ran up the hall panting. Lupin, Tonks, Molly, Kingsley and Moddy. With, of course, Molly leading. When they made it to the hall they all conjured light with their wands and they all gasped when they saw the sight before them. Of course it looked worse in the wand light because of the dim glow, panting and sweat, but nobody couldn't say it wasn't true. Because one look at Arthur's brutally attacked and probably scarred body told them it was. Molly was the first one beside him, soaking her cloak in blood. Lupin and Moody were working on counjoring materials, Tonks was talking through her wand to St. Mungos staff to tell them to be prepared, and Kingsley was looking at the scene distressed and angry. Molly was stroking Arthur's head as she held him half-way on her lap and she kept telling him he needed to wake up. Lupin and Moody finally got a stretcher ready and had Arthur on it in no time. Molly grasped his hand as they strapped him on and let the tears cascade down her cheeks onto him. "Arthur, you need to wake up. I need you, the kids need you. I love you so much, your life is to worth it to cash it in just yet. Please, Arthur? Please?" She broke down when she finished pleading him and she gave him a forehead before he slightly opened his eyes. His eyes revealed the pain, he was crying also, but he tried to keep them open none the less. When he couldn't keep his eyes awake any longer he let them rolled closed again, like with any person in pain who just anted to die if that's what would make it stop. Molly still let her tears fall, hoping he would say something and he finally did. He kept his eyes closed and still looked horrible because of the sweat, blood, tears and pure agony but he did his best to say hoarsley, "Molly," she came closer and said, "yes, Arthur?" He managed a smile as best he could and said, "whatever happens, I love you." Molly let out one more sob before they took him away and went to ST. Mungos.
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at St. Mungos they were unfortunetly busy, so when they got there they held the stretcher tightly and waited. When ten minutes was up Tonks pushed the stretcher through the doors and screamed at the top of her lungs, "IS THERE ANY REASON YOU COULDN'T TAKE ONE MORE PERSON!? THE TEN MINUTES WE JUST HAD TO WAIT MIGHT HAVE COST THIS MAN HIS LIFE BECAUSE YOUR ALL AS LAZY AS THEY COME! NOW, WOULD YOU TAKE HIM? OR WOULD YOU RATHER US GO TO A MUGGLE HOSPITAL?!" They all stood shocked and a short medi-witch walked up and said, "I'm so sorry, mam we'll handle him right away." She nodded and replied coldly, "it's about time." At that moment three more medi-wizards appeared and began pushing Arthur's stretcher up the hall, screaming things to each other like, "some kid of bite. Pulse is shallow, we might have five minutes give or take." In the waiting room Tonks sat rubbing Molly's back in soothing circles and saying, "he'll be fine," over and over.
Back in the St. Mungos' OR they cut and put spells on Arthur every breath he struggled to take. They were positive he was going to die they were just not ready to give up. One healer backed up holding his wand and a scaple and he said, "I closed it, that's it for the blood flow." At that moment he wasn't r-assured. The stitches he put dissolved and weren't enough to hold in the blood. It immediately began gushing, covering the floor and they next sound they heard was a flatline. They all backed away from the table where the blood died down and so did the patient.
____________________________________________________Tonks was the first one to be told and she let three tears cover her face before she pointed her finger at them and said, "I told you. I knew yo waited to long but you wouldn't listen. You let him die, it was all your fault." She was about to walk out but she turned with a menacing smile and said through clenched teeth, "why don't you go tell, his wife and seven children there Dad is gone because of lowsy service?" She stormed out and left it to the medi-witches to tell Molly and they children.
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Their reaction to their father and husband's death was none less than ecstatic sadness. Molly screamed and slapped the one wizard in the face. Bill restrained her and said things he'd regret later before storming out with tears. Charlie got in right when they said it and went off. Percy didn't come until everyone was fighting and walked in pompusley before breaking down upon the news. The twins' smiled faded and they cried for once in their lives. Ron said he was going to be sick and they heard his cries of , "no," coming from the bathroom. And Ginny, Ginny drew blood from attacking the witch and ranted on about why they didn't try harder and they took away her dad, making them feel like the scum they deserved. After everyone was brought to only tears they left and went home to the Burrow. Where that night they all slept together in their parents bed, clinging to each other and a picture of their father.